Songs That Changed the World

Each program in this series puts the spotlight on the songs that have left an indelible mark on the world. Besides setting the scene for the release of the song, the programs feature the songs´ creator(s) and explore its cultural impact and the ways that it changed the course of history. Guests include artists, music industry executives, cultural and political pundits and the music fans themselves for whom these songs became their life´s soundtrack.

On May 21, 1955, rock n roll history was born. On that day, Chuck Berry recorded Maybellene, a song whose influence was massive and groundbreaking. Berry took an old Western sing-style song, gave it an extra kick with his signature electric guitar licks, renamed it Maybellene and unintentionally changed the direction of American popular music and culture. Berry s guitar style influenced an entire genre of musicians and the song had so much social and cultural bearing in the transitional environment of the 1950s, that a cultural historian refers to Chuck Berry as central to the new rock n roll generation.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 15 November, 2007